


Socks

by Small_Hobbit



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Gen, Socks, silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-21
Updated: 2013-01-21
Packaged: 2017-11-26 09:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/649076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the prompt "Lewis notices Hathaway has stopped wearing lavender socks, asks him about it over a beer"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Socks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ficsa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficsa/gifts).



Lewis had got so used to Hathaway’s lavender socks that it took him a while to spot what was different about him.  He realised Hathaway was now wearing black socks with possibly a hint of colour.  Although Lewis couldn’t be sure of the last fact without peering closely at Hathaway’s ankles, which seemed an unlikely course of action.

His idle musings on the colour of his sergeant’s socks became rather less important when on Thursday morning Hathaway arrived slightly late for work and looking upset.

“You okay, man?” Lewis asked.

“Yes sir.  Why do you ask?”

“It’s not like you to be late without an explanation.”

“There’s nothing wrong,” Hathaway snapped and Lewis decided not to pursue the matter for the moment.  After all, if his toaster was on the blink, or the milk had gone off it would make anyone grumpy and he would no doubt brighten up as they got into the day.

However Hathaway remained out of sorts and in addition Lewis noticed that he kept rubbing the back of one foot with the other one, and then would repeat the procedure the other way round.

They spent most of the day trying to make sense of all the information they’d received on a case.  Frequently they lacked information; this time they had more than they needed and sorting out what was in fact relevant was proving time consuming.  Finally, Lewis put down the witness statement he’d read through three times without making any further sense of it.

“Right, time to knock off.  Come on Hathaway, we deserve a pint.”

Lewis stood up and walked out, leaving Hathaway with no choice but to follow.  Lewis had had a feeling that given the opportunity Hathaway would have declined the drink, but since he wished to know what was bothering his sergeant he was not leaving it to chance.

Once they had their beer and had settled back into their seats in the pub Lewis went on the offensive.  “Right, lad, what exactly has been eating you today?”

Hathaway kept his eyes on the table.  “You’ll laugh.”

“No I won’t.”

“If you don’t I’d be the one worried about you.”

“Try me.  You might be surprised.”

Reluctantly Hathaway began.  “I thought I’d get some different socks.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“So I bought a pack of socks that had the days of the week on them.”

“Go on.”

“I couldn’t find the Thursday pair this morning.  And then I had to decide which pair to wear instead.”

Lewis could see Hathaway becoming progressively more miserable as he told his tale.  “You’d better tell me what you decided.”

Hathaway looked at Lewis, thinking he must be taking the mickey, but Lewis’ expression showed that he understood Hathaway’s predicament, so he continued. 

“I couldn’t wear Friday’s because I need them for tomorrow.  And it felt wrong to wear Sunday’s, which left Saturday’s.  So long as I wash them tomorrow.”

Lewis looked fondly at Hathaway.  “You daft bugger.  Only you could make yourself late to work because you couldn’t decide which socks to wear.”

“You understand my problem?”

“I don’t understand the difficulty with choosing socks.  I do understand that _you_ would have a problem.  When you get home put your Friday socks where you can find them in the morning and I’ll see you in the station tomorrow with your happy face on.”

When Hathaway reached his desk the following morning (on time and wearing the Friday socks) he found a package waiting for him.  On opening it he found seven pairs of socks: three with Animal from the Muppets, two with Morph and two saying James.  The note accompanying them said ‘Wear whichever pair you fancy so long as you aren’t late’.


End file.
